Hello friends, I am currently a senior, trying to get a reasonable list of schools for me to apply...

Any insight will be appreciated, and if you could tell me rough chances of getting in (I know, I know, you are not ad coms, but it is my strong feeling that you guys know more than my advisor on this topic for some reason...) I will be especially grateful.

So here is the breakdown of my academic profile...

I attended Nation's top 5 liberal arts college for 1 1/2 years, with a total math gpa of 3.9. I have taken 5 classes there: Lin. Alg., Multivar. Calc., Diff. Eqs., Real & Complex Analysis. I got A- on RA, and A on the other four. Yes, I used to be a physics/chem. major, that is why I've taken so few courses...

Hey, I'm kinda in the same situation as yours: Strong GPA but NO RESEARCH EXPERIENCE. Otherwise my background is close to yours.

Actually, I'm a senior at UCLA. Here's what I can tell you. Our math program is relatively big with 300+ applicants per year, and admit about 80-90 students per year. That being said, our admission rate is higher than other elite math programs (somewhere between 20% - 25%). You can find the data, which is pretty detailed, at our graduate application website. Chances you can get in? I cannot really tell you as that admission depends on numerous factors.

One thing I would say is that do u really wanna apply for ONLY three schools? All three are awfully competitive. I read from other posts stating it's probably best to apply for 6,7, even more schools...

AndyL wrote:Here's what I can tell you. Our math program is relatively big with 300+ applicants per year, and admit about 80-90 students per year.

Well, that certainly makes me feel a little better .

AndyL, thank you for your valuable opinion. Regarding the number of schools to apply, as I mentioned, besides those 3 and 3 more high-reach schools already mentioned, I am planning on applying A LOT (~15) of schools. The problem is, I have no idea where are my safeties, where are my matches, and well, I guess I know where are my reaches haha.